Biking Bis - Bicycle Touring

A favorite piece of bicycling gear: eyeglass mirror

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:29:47 -0800

I've attached lots of different lights, pedals, saddles, handlebar grips and other gizmos and gadgets to my bike or myself in the past 10 years.

The one thing that's given me the most pleasure is a simple rectangular eyeglass mirror that cost me less than $10.

Like my helmet, I can't leave home without it. That's the mirror in the photo at left as I'm being trailed across Kansas by my son this summer.

If you're searching for a holiday present for a bicyclist, a mirror would be a good choice. Any local bicycle store will have a good selection....

Fitting the bicycle to the rider

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:39:36 -0800

The art of fitting a bicycle to a rider has come a long way since I first realized that some of my aches and pains were caused by poor fit.

For my style of riding -- getting from Point A to Point B without unnecessary discomfort -- there are a couple of measurements that seem adequate.

But racers and competitive amateurs seek adjustments that will give them an edge. When you're plucking down several thousand dollars on a new bicycle, another couple of hundred doesn't seem like much to pay to get the most out of it.

The Boulder (Colo.) Camera writes about a local firm, Retul, that has developed a system that uses motion-capture technology to create a 3-D biomechanical analysis ...

Starting off the New Year right

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:38:14 -0800

The snow-covered Olympic Mountains -- about 70 miles away as the eagle flies -- and Lake Washington provide a scenic backdrop for these cyclists out for a bike ride New Year's morning.

Lots of bicyclists hit the road in the Seattle area on Saturday in spite of temperatures that hovered around 30 degrees all morning.

Possibly they're fulfilling New Year's resolutions. I spoke to one rider who said she got the "old horse" out ...

An 88-year-old man's inspirational return to bicycling

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:00:00 -0700

You might find it inspirational to learn that an 88-year-old man won three gold medals at the Connecticut Senior Games earlier this year.

But the back story for cycling enthusiast Bob Sawyer is so much more amazing than that.

A year earlier, the Bedford, Massachusetts, man had been hospitalized with lymphoma, complicated by pneumonia and the inability to eat because he could not swallow. His doctors had discovered the lymphoma on a CT-scan after he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

So there he was in the hospital, wasting away. Everyone, including himself, had started to give up hope ...

Most of top 10 leanest cities are bicycle friendly

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:40:49 -0700

Something that immediately caught my eye when I stumbled across a list of America's Fattest Cities is that none of the top 10 were on the list of Bicycle Friendly Communities.

In fact, you had to go down to No. 15 on the list (Philadelphia) before you could find a city that the League of American Bicyclists says encourages bicycling.

Among the Top 10 Leanest Cities, however, 8 are considered bicycle friendly, and half of those have a high rating of silver, gold or platinum.

You probably can't make the argument that these cities are fat because they're not bicycle friendly ...

More gran fondos in 2010 for recreational and amateur cyclists

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:00:00 -0800

2009 Gran Fondo San Diego

Bicyclists don't have to travel to Italy to participate in the cycling phenomenon known as gran fondos any more. There are plenty scheduled in the US and Canada in 2010.

I've stumbled across six more gran fondos -- in California, Colorado, Oregon and British Columbia -- since I first reported on the sudden surge in the events back in December: "Gran Fondo bike rides gain popularity in the US".

That brings to 17 the number of gran fondos available to cyclists in North America.

I've compiled a list of all 17, their dates and locations at a new page: "2010 North American Gran Fondo bike rides." Check it out soon if you're interested in joining in, these rides are known to fill up fast.

Three of the new rides are slated in Colorado by sports marketing firm Cyclosportivo N.A.....

Man, 60, celebrates birthday with 60-mile bike ride

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:00:00 -0800

As it could have been reported in my hometown newspaper:

A Bellevue resident celebrated his 60th birthday with a 60.5-mile bike ride on Sunday.

"It shows what you can do if you ride regularly and have a strong stubborn streak," said Gene Bisbee, who writes the Biking Bis blog.

An avid bicyclist, Gene said that he'd run into a streak of bad luck -- all his own fault -- with bicycling the past year and didn't know whether he would be able to achieve his goal of 60 on his 60th.

It all started with a fall in January 2009 caused by his improperly maintained bike. He stayed off the bike for several weeks and thought everything had cleared up until this autumn when he was again forced off the bike with severe knee pain. A physical therapist told him it was related to his hip injury ......

Gran Fondo bike rides gain popularity in US

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:35:27 -0800

--Updated with more gran fondo events--

Amateur cyclists and recreational bicyclists in the US and Canada will get more opportunities to participate in Italian-style gran fondo bike rides in 2010.

Nearly a dozen gran fondo bike rides are scheduled next year in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ontario.

Cyclists appear to be hungry for such events.

When 3-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer launched a gran fondo-style bike ride in Santa Rosa last October, 3,500 cyclists signed up.

Word must have spread among cyclists, because when online registration opened on Tuesday for the October 2010 King Ridge Gran Fondo -- 10 months before the event -- half the 6,000 spots were reserved the first day.

In addition to Leipheimer's event in Santa Rosa, the Tour of California is sponsoring two gran fondos along the course of two Tour stages before the race in April. Centurion Cycling is launching its first season of gran fondo with rides in California, Colorado and Wisconsin, and Gran Fondo USA is offering rides in San Diego and Philadelphia next year ...

Old hip injury leads to fresh knee pain for bicycling

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:55:16 -0800

Update: Dec. 8 -- The physical therapist told me today that it's OK to ride my bike, even though there will be some pain. The knee cap should be realigned so it's not rubbing the femur after about 10,000 repititions of the exercises he's given me. That means 3 to 4 months.

I'm still kind of stunned that a bicycling fall I had way back in January has forced me off the bike in November.

Although I had badly bruised the muscles around my right hip in that fall, it's my right knee that's been feeling the pain since August.

I finally found the time (got up the nerve) to visit my doctor about the knee pain about a week ago. That's after three weeks of self-imposed rest off the bike hadn't made anything better.

Here's my tale of woe as a lesson to anyone with knee pain in the past, present or future. Obviously your knee pain can stem from other causes, but it's illustrates the importance of keeping our muscles, ligaments and tendons in balance ..

Two who started bike riding later in life to improve health

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:02:37 -0700

Here are two examples of when you should age-out of bike riding -- never.

First is John Damiano, 80, who just finished up a cross-country bicycle vacation this summer. He told PhillyBurbs.com:

"I wanted to do something totally hard. I wanted to do it to see if an 80-year-old man could ride 3,629 miles."

He can.

Damiano bicycles frequently and has done several long-distance trips. The recent ride from Astoria, Oregon, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was his first cross-country adventure ...